Creating participatory canteens in disadvantaged neighborhoods

Have you ever been in a waiting room? On a train? Or at a bus stop? If so, you've probably already exchanged those little smiles, those characteristic nods with the strangers present with you. These people you don't know, who you'll only see briefly and who will probably quickly slip from your mind.

Now imagine that these people, the neighbor on the TGV, the person you hold the door for, the shopkeeper you see every day... are sitting with you around the table for a shared lunch. A lunch in a place that's big but not too big, a bit your place, a bit theirs, with a simple, good, sustainable menu at a free price... That's the proposal of Les Petites Cantines.

Concretely it's like a big open kitchen, a restaurant where the guests are the chefs, a sort of home, run by a salaried Canteen Manager, in charge of ensuring that everyone feels good and that the encounters taste good. And in the end, everyone pays for their meal at a free price, which covers the majority of the venue's running costs.